The Ash Prophecy: Out of the Flames
by Erin Sky
Summary: Cinderflame was a normal RiverClan medicine cat, until she received a prophecy from StarClan telling her to start a new Clan. Will Cinderflame take the risks and become the leader AshClan, the sixth Clan of the forest?  Set in the past in the forest


**Chapter 1**

Attack

Quickly and as swift as a mouse, the silver cat padded out of her den, only to find her paws wet and soaking. She was used to this, for she was in Riverclan. Being careful to not wake the other cats, she waded through the water over to the entrance of the Riverclan camp. As she was about to leave, a voice mewed from behind her.

"Cinderflame. What are you doing up this late?" Asked the tiny brown kit.

The gray medicine cat stopped.

"Mudkit, why are you awake?" She asked skeptically.

Mudkit shuffled and stared at his feet. "I couldn't sleep."

"Then maybe you would like to come with me?" CInderflame asked, already knowing the answer.

The tiny kit's ears perked up.

"Really?" He asked, a joyful glint in his eye.

"Yup. Follow me!" She called, and turned and darted out of the camp.

Mudkit bounded after her, noisily splashing the water.

"Shhh. We wouldn't want to wake anyone. Your mother would throw a fit if she saw you up!" Cinderflame warned.

Mudkit nodded, and his pawsteps became considerably lighter. Eventually, the water turned to the thick ground of the forest.

Mudkit ran up to CInderflame's side.

"Where are we going?" He asked curiously.

"Ah. I'm looking for some catmint. Whitecough has been going around the camp, and we can't have any sick warriors around, what with all these shadowclan attacks." She answered.

"Yes." He nodded sadly.

They walked further on in the forest, talking about different ways to hunt. Cinderflame paused often, sniffing the air, making sure they were on the right track.

"Wait!" She cried, and unsheathed her claws.

Mudkit stopped abruptly, a surprised look on his face. "What? What?" He asked, alarmed.

"I smell Shadow Clan." She answered, narrowing her eyes. How dare they show up in River Clan territory! In the past, RIver Clan and Shadow Clan had a slight alliance. But it had ended many moons ago. Why were they back? Suddenly, the Shadow Clan scent grew stronger.

CInderflame duckd down to a low crouch, and hid behind a rock.

"Get behind me!" She hissed.

Mudkit scurried over, his fur fluffed up in fear.

"Calm down. They'll smell your fear scent." She mewed. She licked the little kit's head , the same way his mother had. Mudkit calmed down a little, and his furry brown pelt smoothed out. Cinderflame had known this kit since the day he was born, and she was ready to kill an enemy warrior if they even touched him.

Suddenly, a large black cat with scars across his face came in to view from out of the darkness of the forest. Beside CInderflame, Mudkit grew wide-eyed and unsheathed his claws.

The black cat padded forward. Cinderflame recognized him in a heartbeat. It was Stoneclaw, the Shadow Clan deputy. But what was he doing here?

Suddenly, two other cats appeared behind him. Cinderflame could not recognize them, but by the look of their battle-scarred pelts she could tell that they were senior warriors.

One was a pale gray with black spots, and the other was a black tabby.

"When do we attack their camp?" Asked the gray cat.

"Soon. Before sunhigh." Purred Stoneclaw.

"I can't wait to see River Clan's face when we raid their camp!" Meowed the tabby, a mischievious glint in his eyes.

"Are they going to attack Riverclan?" Blurted out Mudkit, loud enough for the whole forest to hear.

"What did I say about calming down!" Hissed Cinderflame furiously.

Just then, Stoneclaw whipped his head around in their direction. "A riverclan medicine cat? And what, a kit? This is the best Riverclan's got? How pathetic!" He growled. "This will be easy." He purred, and Cinderflame could practically see the evil churning underneath his black coat.

"What kind of sick fox dung picks on an innocent kit?" Cinderflame spat, fury overwhelming her.

Stoneclaw growled, and unsheathed his claws. " Enough talk!" He hissed. He reared back, and yowled. "For Shadowclan!"

"Agh! Run!" Cinderflame screamed. "No!" He cried. " I want to fight by your side...like a real warrior!" Then he leaped on to the back of the gray cat, and began digging his claws in to his neck. The warrior screamed and hissed, but Mudkit held on tight. The more the warrior fought, the more Mudkit's claws went deeper into his neck.

Suddenly, Cinderflame felt a sharp pang on her throat. She let out a weak cry, and saw Stoneclaw attempting the death bite. It was clear he wanted her dead. Well, she would give him what he wanted.

Cinderflame pretended to go limp, and held her breath. She felt Stoneclaw release his bite, and she fell to the ground.

"Ha!" Stoneclaw laughed. But Cinderflame saw something flash in his eye. Was it fear? "The warrior code is full of nothing but weakness! Those who are weak deserve to die!" He purred triumphantly. He thought he had won. He was wrong.

"No! Cinderflame!" Mudkit hurried over to her side. "No! Don't go!" He cried.

"See? No one is a match for Stoneclaw!" He yowled. His clan mates meowed in agreement.

"No." Growled Mudkit. Fury burned in the small kit's eyes. "If Cinderflame can't kill you... I will kill you myself!" He cried, and leaped onto Stonelcaw's face. He screamed, and Mudkit clawed his eyes. This was Cinderflame's chance!

In a fury, Cinderflame leaped up, and pounced on the now blind Stoneclaw.

"Cinderflame!" Mudkit cried joyfully, and this gave him a new surge of energy. He clawed even harder.

Stoneclaw howled in fury at the fact that he hadn't won the fight.

Cinderflame delivered the death blow. It usually was against warrior code to kill another cat, but her life was being threatened. So was her clan.

In an instant, Stoneclaw was on the ground, dead. The last thing Cinderflame saw of Stoneclaw was his eerily icy blue eyes, his face frozen forever in a last snarl. The two warriors looked at their dead deputy, and scrambled away in fear. They fled back in to the shadows, horrified.

"And stay out!" Cried Mudkit triumphantly.

But behind the little kit's victory cry, there was a hint of fear and pain. He was only four moons old, and he had already helped murder a cat.

"Cinderflame. Are we in trouble?" He asked, staring into Cinderflame's pained blue eyes.

She shook her head. "Mudkit, I don't know." She admitted, sadly.

She sat down next to him, and licked his ear affectionately. Together, medicine cat and kit, they stared up at the sky, looking at Silverpelt, searching for answers to un-spoken questions.

Oh Starclan...Why me?

**I wrote this chapter a****bout a year ago, and I write a whole lot better now...****I'm sorry about any typos I might have missed...well, hope you enjoy the sto****ry!** **:)**


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